What's up?

A lot!

I've missed blogging, but things have been so busy (as always). Not enough time in the day to do all the things I want to, or even the things I need to :) But I love reading my friend's blogs, so I am not ready to give it up yet. If you can bear with me through the dry spells!

1) Dad and Sheri's visit was AWESOME!!! Although it was only a week, it felt fine because I only worked one of the 8 days, and the rest of the time we were together, so the rte was lots of quality time. Right away Sheri asked, "Where is the cleaning stuff...you don't mind, do you?" and I was like, 'Uh... I definitely don't mind, go ahead and clean as much as you want!!' and all my dad needed was the cable turned on so he could surf between Science and Discovery and NatGeo Wild. Oh, and my dad also said at the beginning of each day, "You go back to sleep, I'll watch the kids." I'm tearing up just thinking about it!!! It was a completely wonderful week and I am so thankful they could come and see our life here in Taiwan. (and it was a complete surprise to the kids; they were speechless when they woke up Tuesday morning to Grandma and Grandpa!!!)

2) Brenda is coming Friday!! YAY!!! We are so lucky this year! I am washing bedding and tidying up (again; haven't done much since Sheri left, oops) Can not wait for fun with the MIL, she's the coolest.

3) Baby Shower for two super good friends who are due a month apart coming up here. It's a Dr. Suess shower, and its going to be so fun!!!! Except that because its for two of our closest friends, me and my other friend can hardly ever talk about it because one of the 'recipients' of the shower is always around! Ha ha, its not a surprise, but just trying to be good hosts. This happens on Saturday (when Brenda is here, because she is a co-host with us)

4) Concerts. Elementary was the best ever!!!! Kids sang amazingly, almost no glitches. Except at the beginning the camel was behind the curtain and she should have been in front and so I had the narrator say the first line again and it almost threw him off but THANKFULLY it didn't, and then once we got the curtain unjammed we were ready to roll. Secondary? Will have some awesome parts, that's for sure. Next week is the last week of school before the holiday and then the 2011 part of 2011/2012 will be all done!

5) Chinese; I have a new teacher and I think I am making progress. My bopomofo is getting a lot better, I am realizing I do know more vocab than I think, and I can use more Chinese out and around and people understand me!! Love it. 'Wo de zhongwen jinbu!!"

6) Tonight was family date night. We ate at Chili's (which I love) and watched Arthur Christmas, which was so good. My husband is so sweet; picked us up at school with a bag packed of my non-teacher clothes, kids raincoats, and everything else we needed and whisked us away for our surprise date. It was just great, a breath of fresh air, a chance to relax and enjoy eachother.

7) And what is a blog without photos? I'm going to try harder, ok?

Here are some pictures of a bike trip we did a few weeks ago, when Chris spilled the beans about Dad and Sheri's trip. It was too important to keep it a secret, he needed my help planning, and also I got to enjoy it so much longer because I had a few weeks of anticipation!!